Tell Me A Joke
by Sir Alwick
Summary: Jokes, friendship, drama, and just a hint of romance. Sounds like a story worth reading, don't you think?
1. The SetUp

_A/N: This is just a little story that popped into my head a while back, back before I even had a fanfic account, and now I've decided to put it down on paper...er screen. It'll be short, probably only four or five chapters long (Sorry, no grand, multi chapter epic this time) but I hope you'll enjoy it all the same. - Sir Alwick_

_The joke parts and definitions that appear throughout the story come from the Comedy and Humor Blog._

The look on her face was that of peace and serenity. Her eyes were closed, the corners of her lips pulled up so slightly that at first glance once could hardly notice it at all. He, however, after so many years of being around her, could see it clear as the dainty nose on her beautiful face. Running his fingers gently through her hair, he had much the same expression adorning his own face, save for a much wider, more obvious grin.

It was when the comfort of the bed had just about lulled him off to sleep that she decided to break the silence that had settled in the room. With her head still resting on his chest and without opening her eyes she turned her face slightly to his. "Tell me a joke," she said.

Although he had clearly heard her he paused a moment or two before answering. Smirking to himself and still with his eyes shut, he muttered, "Can't joke; tired."

For a moment he heard nothing, and it seemed once again silence was taking up residence in the room, but then, in much the same way she had said only moments before, she pointed her face up at him. "Tell me a joke," she said. She paused and then added, "Please."

For some reason he couldn't keep himself from chuckling at that. It was nothing he could explain- not that he felt it could be explained- but for some reason he just found himself laughing, his chest moving up and down in rapid succession, her head bouncing against him with each spastic movement. Some things are just only funny when you are on the verge of sleep.

"Alright," he said. "Alright," he said again.

For a moment he simply thought, his eyes peeled open since he found it impossible to comb the deepest recesses of his mind with them closed. Also, if he had not, he felt it was very likely he would have simply fallen asleep in mid-consideration. So, with eyes open, he thought.

"Alright," he said again. "Once upon a time, about seven years ago give or take, there was.."

"Wait, wait, wait," she said, interrupting him midsentence. "I asked for a joke not a story."

He snickered. "There's not a lot of difference between jokes and stories," he said. "They have beginnings and ends and they're both driven by an idea. In fact a lot of jokes are just short stores."

Again there was silence. Looking down at her graceful profile laying against him he took a moment and pretended he could see into her mind, the inner machinations the made her function and made her the kind of person she was. He then felt her gently run the back her hand up and down his bare stomach. After a few passes she then turned it over and drummed against his abdominals with her finger tips.

"Okay, mister smart guy," she said. "Continue."

"Well," he said. "Just like every story has a beginning, every joke has a set up."

_The Set Up: The beginning of the joke. This is where a connection is forged between comedian and audience. You start with something honest, something familiar, something that hopefully everyone can identify with. This is where you begin creating the situation that will carry you through to the punchline._

The whole room was silent. Silent as the dead of night or the wee hours of the morning. Still sitting on the couch, a half of book still lightly gripped in each hand, Raven looked up at her now quiet teammates. Two of them appeared to have been stunned into silence- that was Robin and Cyborg- their mouths ajar with unfound words, their eyes widened to their maximum capacity for open. The look on Robin's face she found especially amusing. Over the years the Boy Wonder had done his best to hide his thoughts behind a stone stare, an unwavering mask of stoicism, not unlike the Batman (she might also add not unlike herself), but at this latest revelation his face couldn't help but betrayed the shock and disbelief that flowed through him like a tidal wave.

Another of her teammates- this being Starfire- appeared less stunned and more confused. Her bright green eyes were lost in thought. Her small alien eyebrows arched upward, and her lips were slightly pursed. Hers was an expression of pure innocence as she looked from teammate to teammate searching for an explanation as to the gravity of the situation that had just been dumped into their laps.

Finally there was Beast Boy, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his back straight, and a wide smile stretching from pointy ear to pointy ear. His eyes closed in smug satisfaction. Clearly he was happy with himself, the decision he had made as well as his recent announcement.

Robin was the first to try and break the silence and began struggling to make words, which, it turned out was not an easy task at the moment. His lips and tongue and throat suddenly developing a mind of their own, they refused to obey his command to speak until, finally, with perceived effort he managed to drone out an "Uh, what?"

Smirking somehow wider Beast Boy looked straight into his friends bewildered faces and once again made his announcement. "I signed up and am going to be competing in the Stand-Up Comic Face Off competition this Saturday at the Laugh-a-holics Comedy Club."

Cyborg dug a metallic finger into his ear and twisted it several times. "I'm sorry I think I have a hunk of crazy stuck in my ear because there's no way you just said what I think you said."

Starfire, her face scrunched in confusion, rose up into the air levitating just above the others and leaned her face down in between Beast Boy and Robin (She tended to do this whenever she was confused and needed to interject herself into a conversation.) "I do not understand," she said. "This Comic Face Off, is it some kind of battle?"

"No Star," answered Robin, managing to tear his wide eyes away from Beast Boy and shrink them back to a normal size. "It's a competition where people get up on stage in front of an audience and tell jokes, and whoever's the funniest wins a cash prize."

"That's right," said Beast Boy enthusiastically sticking a thumb in the air and pointing it at himself. "And this year that person is going to be me."

Cyborg managing to fully return himself to normal faced his friend with serious and somewhat concerned expression on his face. "B, uh. Are you sure you want to do this, man?" he asked.

"Of course," replied the changeling incredulously. "I've been working on my routine. Oh man I am going to knock'em dead. They're not even going to know what hit them. And I want all you guys to be there watching me, sitting in the front row when I go up there and show Jump City what real comedy is." As he spoke he seemed to swell with confidence. His head raised high, his shoulders broad, he was the ideal image of a man who had the utmost faith in himself and his ability. Unfortunately he had not managed to instill within the others the same level of certainty. Not that he even noticed. "Well anyway," he continued. "I gotta go practice. Only a few days before the big night."

He bid his still bewildered teammates a fond farewell and then made his exit, zipping out the common room doors, whistling merrily to himself.

There was a moment of silence after the green teen had left the room. Once again Robin was the first to speak.

"We can NOT let him go through with this," he said turning and facing both Cyborg and Starfire. "It'd be a disaster."

"No doubt," confirmed Cyborg. "But what can we do?"

Once again Starfire floated into Robin's line of sight. "Robin, I am confused. This Face Off sounds like fun. Why do you act so concerned?"

Robin sighed. He had figured the Tameranean girl would need some explaining as to the severity of the situation. His inner mind clicking in whirring as he thought, he reasoned out an explanation for why Beast Boy needed to be stopped. "Because, Starfire, you know how bad Beast Boy's jokes are. If he goes up on stage in front of a crowd of people with those tired puns and one liners of his, he'll be booed into oblivion."

"Rob is right, Star," said Cyborg. "BB's my bud and all, but the dude can't tell a joke to save his life. And bombing on stage, it might crush him."

Starfire's face grew serious as she contemplated what was being said. Her eyes softened and her smile faded. "I do not wish Beast Boy to be hurt," she said sympathetically.

Despite Starfire's capitulation Robin continued his reasoning. "It's not just Beast Boy's morale that's to be considered either, but also his reputation as well as the team's. We're teenagers trying to do an adult job and it's of the utmost importance that we maintain the respect of the people."

Upon hearing this last comment Raven was unable to help herself. With a sharp exhale of breath cutting through her teeth, she scoffed and shook her head. She had done nothing but listen for quite a while, but finally she felt she needed to say something. Folding a page corner, she closed her book and looked up from her seat on the couch to where her teammates stood a few feet away. "Don't you think you might be overreacting a bit?" she said dryly. "I mean the reputation of the team? Like anyone's going to care about whether or not one of us got booed off stage at an open mike night when their falling from a building or being held up at gunpoint."

Cyborg stepped forward. "Well, Rae, all that stuff aside, we're BB's friends. Don't you think we ought to save him from this?"

Raven's eyebrows arched in disbelief. She couldn't for the life of her understand why they were treating this like a crime had just been committed. "Save him from what?" she scoffed again. "A couple dozen rowdy hecklers?"

Starfire quickly flew over to where Raven was seated, the same worried expression on her face as before. "But don't you want not to see him hurt?"

For a moment Raven was silent, partially because of Starfire's confusing syntax but mainly because she found it particularly hard admitting to the others that yes, she did not want to see Beast Boy hurt and yes, she did care about him. A lot more than any of them realized. "No, I don't want him to get hurt," she said looking down for a moment and thinking about the green shape shifter. "But I've already told him countless times that his jokes aren't funny. He never listens, so there's really little else to do other than wish him luck and let him be."

The room was silent again as the Titans stared at one another, thinking to themselves. For a third time Robin broke the silence.

"Raven's right," he said suddenly.

"She is?" questioned Cyborg.

Raven face remained stoic but inside she felt like smiling. As much as she hated to admit it, like most people, she felt a special joy within herself at being called right. She was about to continue her reading when Robin continued speaking.

"Beast Boy will never listen to us. Simply telling him he shouldn't do the show because of his jokes won't work. If we want to save him from this humiliation we'll have to be more crafty."

An exasperated sigh erupted from Raven and she immediately got up angrily from the couch and began heading for the exit, hovering swiftly across the floor.

"Where are you going?" said Robin.

"This is ridiculous," said Raven, not bothering to look in the Boy Wonder's direction as she spoke. "It's a waste of time and I want no part of it." And with that she quickly made her exit.

Starfire raised a hand and made a small attempt to pursue the fleeing empath, but she was stopped when Robin placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Let her go," he said. "It's her choice." The Tameranean looked at him and let out a small, slightly sorrowful sigh. She floated back down to the ground, and the group huddled around close. "Okay," continued Robin. "Let's start discussing ideas for Operation: No Laughing Matter."

"Aw come on," lamented Cyborg. "Man, what did I tell you about the mission names. Man, nobody likes those."


	2. The Mix

_The Mix_

_This is an element in comedy that has to do with a what if scenario. Usually following a punchiline, it's all about putting people with established personality traits or reputations in different situations, ones that normally wouldn't fit them. Can you imagine if so-and-so did something like this? What would happen?_

Cyborg and Starfire sat quietly in plain metal folding chairs watching the Boy Wonder as he went to work. After the scene in common room Robin had retreated to his bedroom, telling the other two that he would call them when he was ready. An hour later they each received a message on their communicators telling them it was time for them to join him. When they entered they found the room dark, the only light being that from the hallway cast upon the floor. As they both entered Starfire spoke.

"Robin?" she asked hovering cautiously forward. "Are you here?"

The answer did not come quickly.

The door behind the two suddenly creaked loudly as it slammed shut. The lights flickered on as they spun around to see Robin standing before them, one hand on the door, one on the light switch.

"Please take a seat," he said, his tone serious.

For a moment the two simply stared at him. Then, spying two metal chairs set up in front of a portable chalkboard, they each chose their seats and sat down. Robin crossed in front of them to the chalkboard and took a three foot long wooden pointer into his hands.

"Alright team," he said authoritatively. "We all know why we're here. A friend of ours is in trouble and it's up to us to save him. Now I've devised several plans that, if executed properly, should..."

As Robin spoke, Cyborg slowly crept his hand up into the air, cautious and unsure like he'd done several times before in grade school. Upon noticing him, Robin ceased his speech. He sighed.

"Yes Cyborg?"

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard with this?" he said gesturing to the room around him, the overly serious, business like feel of their surroundings. I mean we're not trying to bust a slave ring here, we're just trying to keep B from making an ass of himself."

Robin's face remained stiff. He cracked the pointer loudly against his gloved hand and said, "If a jobs worth doing, it's worth doing right." Giving the chalkboard a small nudge with his elbow he rotated it 180 degrees till the other side was visible. In front of them now was a crude and cartoonish drawing of Beast Boy done in white chalk, the sight of which was laughable. "This is our subject," continued Robin. "Now what do.."

"Uh, is that supposed to be Beast Boy?" said Cyborg's suddenly, cutting Robin off.

"What? Yes."

"Cause it doesn't look like him."

"That's not important, we need.."

"I agree with Cyborg," said Starfire. "His ears are not long enough."

Sighing in frustration, Robin quickly snatched a piece of chalk from out of his desk drawer and hastily drew a longer set of ears on the chalk Beast Boy. "There," he said once he was finished. "Now.."

"I don't think his chest is that thick either," said Cyborg.

Scowling, Robin picked up the eraser, removed the lines that made up the drawing's torso and redrew them this time closer together. "Okay," he said when finished. "Now.."

"I believe his mouth is larger than that," said Starifre.

"And his eyebrows aren't thick enough," added Cyborg.

More sighing and more scowling. More erasing and more drawing. Finally after several minutes of corrections Robin stood beside a completely redone image of Beast Boy, totally frazzled and glaring at his two teammates. "There," he practically shouted. "How's that?"

Cyborg and Starfire studied the drawing carefully. They looked at one another and then back at Robin.

"I don't know," said Cyborg. "The ears kind of look _too _long now."

Gritting his teeth, Robin hastily ran the eraser back and forth over the drawing, removing it entirely from existence. "Alright look the drawing doesn't matter," he said quickly. "Tell me, what do we know about Beast Boy?"

"He likes tofu," said Starfire.

"He likes videogames," said Cyborg.

"He hates doctors."

"He never gets up on time."

Robin nodded. "That's all very true," he said as he began pacing back and forth in front of the board. "But more importantly, Beast Boy has a notoriously short attention span." He stopped pacing and turned to his teammates. "The solution is simple," he said. "If we really want to make him forget about the standup competition we just need to get his mind focused on something else."

* * *

"Yoooooooo, B!"

Cyborg's voice was overexcited as he vaulted over the back of the couch and landed hard on the floor, his two massive metallic feet making a deep thumping noise as he did so. Beast Boy, sitting on the couch with video game controller in hand smiled up at his towering friend. He could tell that the wide grin on his face could only be the result of something really awesome.

"What's up, Cy?"

Cyborg made an attempt to stifle his grin and adapted a more cool and collected posture. "Okay," he said, putting his arms up, pretending to be settling himself down. "After calling in a lot of favors and forking over a lot of green, I, your best bud in the whole multiverse, managed to score for you and me two front row tickets to," he paused for a moment, drenching his announcement in suspense, doing his best to get the green teen in front of him hyped up before continuing. "The big WEXPCW wrestling pay per view!" In a quick and fluid motion the metal Titan unveiled from behind his back two clean, crisp white tickets, the black lettering on them proudly trumpeting their purpose.

"DUUUUDDE," shouted Beast Boy, leaping up on the couch in total fanboy overdrive at the sight of the tickets. "That's freakin' awesome!"

"That's right! You and me are going to see Frank "The Man Tank" Maculloch vs The Deboner..."

The two friends finished the final part of the sentence together, shouting toward the ceiling: "In a Steel Cage of Pain match."

"Dude," said Beast Boy again. "That's amazing. When is that again?"

"This Saturday night, baby," said Cyborg.

Realization came quickly and Beast Boy's wide grin faltered. "Oh," he said. "But, dude, that's the night of the big Comedy show. I can't miss that."

Cyborg was dumbstruck for a moment. "Oh," he stuttered finally. "Oh right, yeah," he said, pretending to now remember. "The stand up contest."

The two became silent. The excitement that previously filled the room was now gone. After a moment or two Beast Boy spoke.

"So," he began slowly, gesturing to the wrestling tickets still held firmly in Cyborg's massive hands. "I guess you'll be going to the pay per view instead, huh?"

Cyborg's eyes widened as he looked down at the tickets and then back up at his green friend. Taking note of the obvious hurt and disappointment in his face, Cyborg immediately thrust the tickets behind his back.

"No, no, man, of course not," he babbled out quickly taking a few nervous steps back. "It just slipped my mind is all. I'm definitely going to your show, definitely."

Immediately the joy returned to Beast Boy's green eyes and a wide grin spread across his face. "Great!" he declared. His tone then became somewhat somber as he realized his friend's situation. "Sorry about the wrestling match. I mean I still really appreciate the gesture."

"No, no," said Cyborg as he turned and began making his way for the common room doors. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you later."

Once the common room doors had swished open and then swished shut and he was out of ear shot, Cyborg looked down at the tickets in his hand in scowled. "Well there's 750 bucks I'll never see again," he grumbled. "Lousy Boy Blunder. I told him we shouldn't have bought the tickets first."

* * *

Slowly, timidly, Starfire hovered closer to Beast Boy as he sat playing videogames. The young Tameranean girl was not entirely sure of what she was doing. She was very nervous and the discomfort she felt from the small radio receiver hidden in her ear which Robin had forced her to wear was not helping. Before she got too close, the young woman turned around and pressed the tiny button on the receiver, activating it.

"Robin," she said. "I am still not so sure I understand. This whole concept is very strange to me."

"Don't worry," came the Boy Wonder's reply in her ear. "That's why I gave you the radio. No one but you will be able to hear me and I'll just walk you through it. Now to start simply walk up to Beast Boy, sit down next to him and say hi."

Starfire nodded and again she turned and faced the back of her green friend's head as he sat on the couch, engrossed in his games. She slowly hovered up and over the back of the couch and sat gently on the cushion beside him.

"Um, hello Beast Boy," she said, fiddling with her fingers in her lap.

"Hey, Star," he said, eyes still glued to the TV screen.

"Okay," said Robin. "Now tell him you have something important to tell him."

"But I don't," said Starfire.

"Huh?" said Beast Boy.

"What?" said Starifre.

"Just tell him," said Robin, his tone insisting.

"I have something important to tell you, Beast Boy," said Starfire. Her attempt to sound natural ended in failure as her voice came out almost robot-like in its monotone.

"Yeah?" said Beast Boy, still playing his game, but showing that he was listening.

"Good," said Robin. "Now say that you just remembered that this Saturday night is a very special Tameranean holiday and it's important that all the Titans stay home to..

"But I told you there is no holiday this Saturday," interrupted Starfire, turning away from Beast Boy and looking out at the space in front of her.

"Huh?' said Beast Boy again.

"Yes?" said Starfire, turning and offering a friendly smile.

Beast Boy gazed at her skeptically for a moment. "Star are you okay?"

Robin groaned. He had clearly underestimated how much of a foreign concept lying was to the emotionally open Tameraneans. "I know that, Star, but I need you to tell him there is," he said.

"But if there is not why would I tell him there is?" asked Starfire, again turning her gaze away from the green teen beside her.

"Would you stop talking to me already?" whispered Robin harshly. "You're going to make him suspicious."

His face painted with confusion, Beast Boy stared puzzled at the Tameranean as she continued talking to herself, looking at him and then looking away over and over again. "Tell him there what is?" he asked.

"But why would someone say something to someone else if it were not true?"

"I uh, wait what?" said Beast Boy.

"Starfire, stop talking..." Robin's tone was becoming more and more agitated with each passing second.

"I am sorry, but I already attempted explaining to you that I simply do not understand this concept," said Starfire.

"You did?" said Beast Boy.

"STARFIRE, SHUT UP!" shouted Robin, his voice coming through distorted over the speaker. He would quickly realize his error, but it was far too late.

Starfire's loud gasp came quickly, angry and hurt, over the speaker. Tears welled up in her eyes and her pretty face contorted in anger. "Fine," she shot angrily, standing up. "If that is how you feel, I will do the shutting up just like you said!"

"Woah, woah," said Beast Boy. "I didn't tell you to..."

"Star, I'm sorry," said Robin.

"No," said Starfire. "I will shut up and I will never not shut up for you ever again." With tears streaming down her cheeks she quickly soared off, through the air and out the common room doors, leaving a wide eyed and very confused changeling in her wake.

* * *

"Nice goin, O fearless leader," said Cyborg leaning his shoulder against a wall as Robin once again tried in vain to coax Starfire out of her bedroom. It had already been an hour and the furious woman still refused to speak to him. The Boy Wonder threw Cyborg a death glare, but said nothing. There was a brief silence before the metallic Titan spoke again. "So what now?" he said.

Robin looked to him. "Oh don't you worry," he said. "I still have one more plan. And we'll start going over it once I..." he paused. "You know," he gestured to the door. "Take care of a few things."

Cyborg only shook his head before turning and walking away as Robin once again resumed his one sided conversation with Starfire's bedroom door.


	3. Act Outs

_Act-Outs: This refers to a comedian's use of voices, movements, hand gestures or other miscellaneous actions to convey a joke or a scenario. All physical aspects of comedy fall into this category._

"I don't know, man, this feels like it's getting out of hand."

"It'll be fine. It's not like he's going to get hurt or anything, and it'll only be until the shows over."

"I'm still not so sure about this."

"It's fine. He'll never suspect a thing."

* * *

She couldn't really explain it. After leaving her room, her intention was to walk down the hall to the common room to get herself a quick bite to eat, and yet as soon as she set foot outside her door she stopped and something inside her told her to turn, to head in the opposite direction towards Beast Boys room.

Tonight was the big night, the night they were all to go to the Laugh-a-holics comedy club and watch Beast Boy perform his standup in front of a whole crowd of Jump City denizens. For the days leading up, Raven had done what she pledged to do and stayed completely out of the other Titan's affairs. She knew they had attempted to secretly sway the green boy from performing and obviously they had failed just like she knew they would. They couldn't have felt what she did when Beast Boy made his announcement. No one but she could have known just how much this meant to him.

So why was she heading to his room now?

The answer to the question escaped her at the moment. All she knew for sure was that she felt she needed to speak him.

As she got closer to his room she could start to hear the sound of muffled speaking coming from the other side of his door. It appeared, she assumed, that perhaps he was practicing for the contest now mere hours away. Pressing her ear to the wood she listened hard, but could not make out any distinguishable words.

All week Beast Boy had been very secretive about the contents of his standup act. He hadn't told any of them anything about what he was going to say or do or talk about. This alone made her curious about what it was the mischievous young man had planned. Summoning her powers, Raven phased herself partway through the door so that only her upper torso entered the young man's bedroom. Immediately his muffled voice became clear.

"...into the pool. Laugh, laugh, laugh, applause, applause. Thank you, you've been an moderate to okay audience," she watched him say to the far wall of his bedroom, his back facing her. She inwardly cursed as she realized she was catching the very end of his performance. It was then she realized that despite her attempt to be completely silent, she had been caught as she suddenly saw Beast Boy's pointy ears twitch and flick up and down on his head. A moment later he turned and faced her. "Raven," he said with smile.

"Hello," she said, blushing ever so slightly at being caught. "I'm sorry. I should have knocked.

"It's okay," he said. "I was just doing a little practice."

"I see that," she said. Things grew quickly silent as she phased the rest of her body through the door. Despite the fact that she thought she was coming to see him because she wished to speak with him, Raven now found herself with nothing to say. "So," she finally said. "Tonight's the big night."

"Sure is. And dude I am pumped. I can't wait to get out there."

"Obviously."

Another silence quickly fell over the two as Raven could feel frustration for her own innaction building up inside her. Why was she suddenly finding it so difficult to speak to him? Deep down she perhaps wondered if some of Robin's words had gotten through to her.

"Beast Boy?" she suddenly found herself saying. "Performing in the show tonight. It means a lot to you, doesn't it."

He grinned at her. "Yeah," he said. "Of course. I love comedy and I've always wanted to do something like this." It was then that his grin faded somewhat, becoming less wide, less bright. His eyes looked into hers. "Why? Do you have a reason why I shouldn't."

Raven suddenly felt as if a spotlight had been cast upon her. She felt a million eyes staring, leering at her. A million unknown faces all waiting for her to answer. At the same time she felt as if a great power had been thrust into her hands, a power for good or evil, creation or destruction.

Beast Boy is not funny. It was something she had always told herself.

"I should go," she said quickly, heading for the door.

"Oh," he said, sounding surprised. "Okay."

As she reached the door, Raven turned and looked back at him over her shoulder. Seeing the changeling standing there her heart softened and she realized at that moment what Beast Boy needed wasn't the truth; he needed a friend. "But good luck tonight.," she said suddenly. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

At that his wide smile from earlier returned to his face. "Thanks Rave," he said brightly. "Don't worry I won't let you down."

She said nothing, only nodded and left the room.

Walking back through the hallways, she headed straight for her room and shut the door behind her. There was no doubt in her mind on whether or not letting Beast Boy participate in the show was the right thing to do. But what of her own feelings? Was the fact that it was important to Beast Boy the only reason she wished for him to participate? What did she really think about the changeling's humor? Beast Boy is not funny: it was something she'd always told herself, but now she only wondered. Deciding there were questions that needed answering she crossed her bedroom floor to her bureau. Opening up the top drawer wide she rummaged through her clothing until her hands found the object of her search. The small unsuspecting hand mirror. Her gateway to Nevermore.

* * *

For nearly an hour he had waited in the doorway of his bedroom. His reasoning was that it would lend more credence to his innocence if their meeting was seemingly that of simple happenstance. So, standing in the doorway, staked out in his own bedroom, he waited and listened until finally, just as he hoped, he heard the familiar clopping of Beast Boy's feet as they approached. Readying himself, he took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway. Turning he pretended to notice Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy," he said.

"S'up?" answered the green teen.

"Say, could you do me a favor and go get the training dummies? I think I left them up on the roof."

"Training dummies?"

"Yeah, I wanted to get in a quick exercise before your..uh..show."

Beast Boy paused a moment before answering, slight confusion evident on his face. "Ah, sure," he said finally. "On the roof?"

"Yeah, I think that's where I left them last. Just bring them down to the gym if you would."

Giving a half nod, Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure," before turning and making his way for the stairwell. Robin thanked him and turned, pretending to make his way down the hallway. Once the green teen was out of sight however he quickly pulled out his Titan communicator.

"He's heading your way," he whispered. "Be ready."

* * *

No matter how many times she did it, no matter how many times she ventured into her mind through the portal in her mirror, she never quite got used to it. It was simply an odd feeling, knowing that everywhere she looked, this whole other world was simply a product of her own thoughts. It was somewhat overwhelming to think about.

After walking for a few minutes along the floating dirt walk way, she soon arrived at her destination. The double doors before her, though ridiculously over sized were not at all imposing. They were colored a calming sky blue and resting in their center was a bright yellow anthropomorphic sun, looking down at her with a laughing smile across its surface. With a simple thought, the doors were willed open and the garish multicolored world that was her happiness was spread out before her. Walking through fields of bright pink grass, looking at the blue and purple trees and the banana yellow sky, she could hardly believe any part of her could create something so bright.

As she walked her ears were soon greeted by the sound of high pitched giggling rolling over the hilltops. Following them, she climbed the nearest pink hill and when she got to the top she looked down and quickly spotted a playground far larger than anything in existence. Rows and rows of swing sets, dozens of slides reaching for the sky and all manner of jungle gyms, monkey bars and climbable objects stretched out across the landscape, everything colored with brilliant hues of red, yellow, orange, blue, purple and pink.

In the middle of it all she saw her. If not for the hot pink cloak as well as the pinkish hue in her leotard, she would have been an exact duplicate of Raven. The only other notable difference was the wide smile that was forever glued to her lovely face. She was a physical manifestation of what humans understood as happiness. She was herself, Happy.

Dashing to the nearest swing, the emotion leapt on and began pumping her legs as hard as she could, accelerating herself back and forth until she was finally going as high as the piece of playground equipment would allow. Keeping a safe distance from the girl's flailing feet, Raven approached.

"Happy," she said aloud to the emotion, though it was really more or less to herself. The girl in front of her said nothing neither did she even acknowledge Raven's presence, only giggled as she continued to propel herself back and forth. Such was always the case. Whenever Raven spoke with her emotions she found they never really spoke to her nor did they even recognize her existence. Despite this, however, no questions she asked would ever go unanswered.

"Tell me, happy," said Raven. "Tell me about Beast Boy's jokes.

Again the emotion exploded in a fit of laughter. "I love Beast Boy's jokes," she shouted to the sky. With one final pump the girl then threw herself into the air at the height of her swing and landed feet first in the purple gravel on which the playground rested. Without breaking stride the girl then dashed for the nearest sandbox where she plopped herself down and began digging, burrowing as deep as she could with her bare hands.

"Happy," said Raven again, approaching the girl from behind. "How could you possibly like Beast Boy's jokes? They're so..." she hesitated, looking for the right words to soften the blow but finding none. "...bad."

With an adequate pile now resting in front of her, the pink clad emotion began running her hand up and down its granular surface, shaping it into a tower. Again she giggled. "It's not so much the jokes that I like, it's that he tells them."

With newfound interest, Raven floated closer to the girl and sat down in the sand beside her. "What do you mean?"

"No matter what happens, no matter what we go through, Beast Boy's always there every day with a warm smile and a joke. It's comforting."

Suddenly growing tired of the sand, Happy again leapt to her feet and ran off, this time finding the nearest jungle gym and scrambling up the side of it like a monkey. Floating along side her Raven continued her questioning.

"So it's consistency," she said. "A kind of familiarity. A routine. Is that it?"

"No, no, no," answered Happy. "It's more than that. He doesn't have to tell jokes. No one does. But he does it anyway. All so we might smile even if it's just a little." It was then that Happy reached the top of the jungle gym and quickly raced for the slide, a large, red tube which spiraled downward all the way to the ground.

"He's the only one that ever seems to appreciate them," said Raven, recalling all the times Beast Boy was the only one laughing at his jokes.

"No one tells jokes to make themselves laugh," said Happy, between giggles. "Beast Boy tells jokes because he cares about us. Because our feelings are important to him."

Hovering in the air, Raven looked down at the bright orange wooden planks beneath her boots. She thought about everything the emotion had told her. Could Beast Boy's jokes really be that important? Looking back up she saw the emotion still standing in front of the slide. "The team's happiness is really that important to him?" she said, her voice still somewhat unsure.

Happy laughed. "I wasn't talking about the team," she said. She then leapt into the red tube and disappeared from sight.

* * *

He never saw it coming. He had no sooner set foot on the rooftop when suddenly he felt as though he were being watched. Before he knew it however, there was a sudden blur of grey around him and a sharp pain in his neck as though he'd been stuck by some kind of needle. The next thing he knew everything was dark.

Raising his head slowly, he groaned to himself as the world blurred and echoed around him.

"He's waking up. Quick, get into positions," he thought he heard someone say.

Seconds passed and gradually his surroundings, what little there was to see came into view. For the most part everything was dark. The lights were dim, but he guessed he was in some kind of warehouse. In front of him, he could clearly make out the silhouettes of three cloaked individuals.

"Greetings, Beast Boy," said one of the figures, it's voice unfamiliar and sounding electronically scrambled. "You are now in our clutches."


	4. Callbacks

The first thing he did was try to move, which he soon found he couldn't do. Not really. His head was unbound and he could look from left to right, but his legs, his arms, his body, everything was tightly secured with what felt like ordinary rope as he sat in what felt like an ordinary chair. The next thing he did was try to transform. After a few attempts he soon found that for reasons unknown he could do that neither.

As he struggled three hooded figures took their places in front of him in a straight line from left to right. "Wow! Three Ravens" popped into his head, but he said nothing. Though there was definitely a part of him that was somewhat nervous and maybe even a little scared he didn't show it, rather he simply looked at his three supposed captors and smirked, saying, "So, it looks like you three shop at the same store. Do you shop at the same store?"

Though he couldn't see their faces, he assumed they weren't amused with his comment. After a moment one of the grey cloaked figures, the tallest one, stepped forward.

"We three," he said triumphantly, his voice deep and electronically distorted. "Are the Ministry of Wickedry."

Another cloaked figure suddenly stepped forward. This figure was the shortest and it's voice not quite as deep as the first. "Whoa, whoa, that's not the name we decided on."

"It's what I decided on."

"No, we were going to call ourselves the Triad of Tyranny."

"That's a stupid name."

"Oh, like Ministry of Wickedry is so great. I have a little more experience than you at this; I think I know what makes a good name."

The third figure chose that moment to enter the conversation. "Look, it doesn't matter what our name is," it said to the two arguing figures before settling its attention on Beast Boy. The figure then cleared it's throat and when it spoke again attempted a more professional tone. "We are in charge now. You are helpless before our might."

"Uh-huh," answered Beast Boy, his tone dull and unimpressed. "So what were you planning on doing with me?"

Raising a black gloved finger in the air the figure puffed out its chest before suddenly growing very silent. "Uhh," it muttered. "Umm."

"We don't know yet," said the tallest figure, it's voice loud and booming with faux authority.

"Shut up," said the shortest. It then faced Beast Boy. "Never mind what our plans are. But you can bet they're very evil."

"Uh-huh," said Beast Boy again. "Do any of you know what time it is?"

"We shall ask the questions," said one figure.

"About 6:30," said tallest figure.

Both figures on opposite sides of the tallest figure turned and leered through their hoods. "How is it you suck so hard at this?" said one.

The comedy show was a mere half hour from starting. There was no more time to screw around. With all his strength, Beast Boy began struggling against his bonds, rocking back and forth in the chair. Inside he began concentrating as hard as he could, trying with all his will to overpower whatever force was keeping him from being able to transform.

"Hey, hey, stop doing that," said one of the figures, suddenly realizing Beast Boy's struggling. "Or..uh...you'll be in big trouble."

Sighing angrily Beast Boy looked the figures straight in their shrouded eyes. "Look, enough already. Just let me go."

"This is no game," said the tallest figure in a booming voice, striking a dramatic pose.

"Dudes," answered Beast Boy somewhat exasperated. "Seriously. I know what's going on. And I'm done with this."

* * *

It was always difficult to tell how much time passed whenever she ventured into her mind, though judging by the position of the sun in her window, Raven guessed she had been there quite a while. A quick glance at the clock by her bed told her it was nearly time, time for her and the rest of the team to leave for the show.

Although unsure of what the others were planning on wearing, Raven decided against wearing her uniform and opted instead for something a tad more discreet. Quickly going to her closet she retrieved a pair of black jeans and a simple black long sleeve shirt. Whenever she wore this outfit, Beast Boy would always say she looked like a drama student, though she had no idea what he was talking about. Now properly dressed, she made for her door and stepped out into the hallway.

Moments later she was stepping through the automatic common room doors- she had already visited Beast Boy's room and found it empty- and was surprised to see each of her teammates still in their respective uniforms and busying themselves in one way or another. Though they were each going about humdrum routines- Robin was reading a book on Spetsnaz weaponry, Cyborg was sitting on the couch, playing a videogame and Starfire was painting her toe nails- each of them had a somewhat frazzled and nervous look on their face. Robin was doing better than the other two at hiding it, but Raven could tell. Even without her empathic abilities it was easy to see that each of them was feeling a great deal of guilt about something. It was then that she noticed something else.

"So, where's Beast Boy?" she said aloud to the group after a cursory glance of the room. "I figured he'd be hanging off of all of you, begging to leave by now."

None of them spoke.

A bad feeling flowed through her insides as Raven's eyes scanned each of her teammates before finally resting on Robin. Slowly, with confidence, she strolled over to the masked teen as he sat at the kitchen table quietly reading his book. He paid her no attention as she stopped just in front of him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Where is he Robin?" she said. Her voice was calm. There was no hostility in her words; there needn't be. She knew at any moment she chose she could get the information she desired. So she was calm and patient, thinking that perhaps, maybe she would give him a chance to come clean.

"Some place safe," said Robin, not looking up from his book.

She paused, though for only a moment. "Okay, then maybe you can tell me, how _does _it feel to stomp all over the dreams of a friend?"

"It's for his own good."

"Oh, I see. You know what's best for him."

"In this case, yes."

"You know what's best for him more than he does." She looked at him hard. "You do know what fascism is, don't you?"

At that, Robin finally closed his book and lay it down flat on the table in front of him. He then pushed his chair back and crossed one leg nonchalantly over the other. He looked up at Raven, the gaze under his mask hard and unwavering.

"You know," continued Raven, unintimidated. "You're not going to win this, Robin. I'm well aware you're a very talented, intelligent, gifted young man. But at the end of the day, that's all you are. When it comes to me, you're just out of your league. Physically. Mentally. I'm versed in things you've never even dreamed of. Things you can't even begin to comprehend, to me are second nature. So why don't we just skip the posturing and posing and get straight to you telling me what I want to know?"

Throughout Raven's entire speech Robin's face remained stoic. No more intimidated by her than she by him. Clearing his throat, Robin slowly stood and pushed his chair in. After taking a few steps, he and Raven were nose to nose.

"Or what?" he said after a moment of strained silence. "Are you going to route around in my head? Search through my memories? Or are you going to try to intimidate me, to scare me into talking." He paused and leaned in ever so closer. "Give me your best shot."

Raven smirked. "You asked for it." Taking a step back, she turned her head slightly, addressing the rest of the room. "Starfire," she said in a raised voice. "Where's Beast Boy?"

"He is with the Kid Flash, Jinx and Speedy in one of the Batman's hidden storage spaces across town."

Robin's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as his jaw fell completely open.

"Awwww..."

_The Callback: When a comedian tells a joke with a punch line, then later in the act tell a different joke with the same punch line._

"...www. Come on, Star!"

"I am sorry!" the Tameranean girl practically shrieked as she threw her arms out to her sides in frustration only to quickly cross them huffily in front of her chest.

Raven could hardly resist as she felt a self-satisfied smirk work its way across her face. She redirected her gaze back at the Boy Wonder. Despite noting the expression on her face, Robin remained defiant.

"Well it doesn't matter," he practically spat. "You still don't know his exact location."

This was true enough. For a moment she pondered that she might actually have to try extracting the information out of Robin by force, but suddenly Cyborg spoke.

"I can tell you exactly where he is," he said.

Once again Robin was aghast.

"Cyborg!"

"Look, I'm sorry man but I gotta be able to look myself in the mirror and this...this is just too much. I'm done."

"I am in agreement with Cyborg," added Starfire. "I do not like all of this lying business that has been going on."

Robin made a weak attempt at voicing a comeback, but one look at the determined expressions worn by his teammates told him all he needed to know. It was over. He had lost. He slumped his shoulders and forced his attention back on Raven.

"I guess I'll go get changed then."

* * *

Closing her eyes she felt her body go numb as the shadow like mass that was her soulself completely encompassed her being. Immediately she was soaring over the city or rather moving swiftly across and down the faces of skyscrapers and streets, an unnatural shadow too fast for most passersby to even realize it's existence. Throughout her journey she kept her mind's eye fixed on her target the way she always did. Within a matter of seconds she was at her destination and though she was somewhat winded from the exertion she refused to show it.

The occupants of the room though bewildered at first at her sudden appearance were quick to recover.

"Raven," shouted Beast Boy, bouncing slightly in his chair.

She cast no glance at the bound changeling but settled her gaze instead on the three disguised individuals in front of him.

"Oh, uh," stammered the shortest figure. "How dare you trespass in our secret base."

"Yes," said the tallest figure, dramatically. "And how dare you arrive kind of too early."

Placing her hands on her hips, Raven arched an eyebrow at the three. It soon became apparent to them that not only was she not in accordance with the plan, but she was in no mood for games of any kind. Immediately the trio became somewhat lost in their roles. Breaking eye contact, rubbing their arms and the backs of their necks nervously, they now seemed completely unsure of what to do with themselves.

"Rave," said Beast Boy. "Could you please get me out of here?"

"Yeah," said Raven. "Do you want me to send you straight to the club?"

"Not yet. I gotta go back to the tower first and change."

"Alright. I'll follow you shortly."

Turning her full attention to the changeling she raised her hand and with her powers swiftly undid his binds. She then enveloped the young man in glowing black shadow and with a thought sent him hurtling back across the city. Once the task was complete she turned back to the phony captors who were now busy removing their disguises.

"Do you three have anything to say in your defense?"

Kid Flash was the first to step forward. "Robin can make a very convincing argument when he wants to," he said after a moment, pulling a small voice altering device away from his cheek.

Speedy removed his hood and joined Kid Flash with a meek "What he said."

Lastly was Jinx. "I was really just kind of nostalgiac for playing the bad guy again," she said somewhat indifferently.

Shaking her head, Raven leveled one more icy stare at the three before once again summoning her powers and teleporting out of sight. After her exit the trio stood in silence.

"Well," said Kid Flash finally. "I still say Robin owes us one."

"Agreed," said the other two.


	5. The Punchline

_The Punchline: The end. The final part of the joke and naturally the most important. This is of course where the audience is supposed to laugh. As important as everything else in joke structure is, without a strong punchline, the rest means nothing._

The atmosphere in the Laugh-O-Holics club was jovial as patrons chatted idly over drinks and rapidly prepared food, their voices a dull mummer as they waited patiently for the host of the night's event to re-take the stage and announce the next performer.

The layout of the club was what you would expect. The lights in the main room were dim. The only brightness came from a spotlight that shined down on a small, simple stage with blue curtains at the far end of the room. Round wooden tables sat on thin darkly colored carpeting, and the floor was elevated towards the back of the room for the courtesy of those sitting a distance from the stage.

Raven, after rescuing Beast Boy from his "kidnappers" had returned to the tower to find Robin, Starfire and Cyborg in the common room waiting for her. They each had shed their uniforms opting instead for more casual, more informal attire. Robin's outfit consisted of blue jeans and a black sweatshirt which sported the logo of his favorite gym, along with a pair of dark sunglasses (No one bothered asking him how he intended to see). Despite the cool weather outside, Starfire opted to wear an incredibly skimpy miniskirt with a bright pink halter top and a pair of open toed sandals. Cyborg's outfit was the most simplistic: a ordinary grey t-shirt and blue jeans brought to simulated existence by his holo-ring, which of course also completely hid from sight his robotic prosthetics.

It appeared they were not however ready to go as Raven was quick to realize that Beast Boy was not among them. After a quick inquiry as to where he was this time it was told to her that he wanted them to go on without him and that he would see them at the club. And so, with nothing else holding them back, the quartet left the common room and made for the club.

As soon as they arrived it was thought that perhaps their night would be over before it got started. The competition was not an all ages show and each of them was under 21, however they seemed to get in with no problem. It appeared to the team that despite their attempts to be discrete they were still recognizable enough. They entered the building with newfound hesitation; however once they saw the darkness of the main room it was figured that though they'd be sitting in the center of the room, they would still go largely unnoticed.

Raven had to admit, though she wouldn't go so far as to say she was enjoying herself, the overall experience was not quite as bad as she expected it to be. They had already seen about half the contestants already. All manner of men and women had taken their place up on stage, cracking wise about work, traffic, food, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands and wives, movies, celebrities and sports. Some told humorous anecdotes, depending on their personality to deliver the laughs while others relied on wildly animated voices and body movements. Just like in style every performer also ranged in quality. Some were quite good and had the small but lively crowd in stitches throughout their routine; some were simply okay, gaining a smattering of chuckles here and there, while still others elicited not even the chirping of crickets as they fumbled to garner even the smallest reaction.

Each of her teammates, after a period of awkwardness was very much enjoying themselves. Cyborg was laughing his deep booming laugh and slapping the table with his open hand, often times having to catch himself before he smashed it to pieces. Starfire was laughing, though it was figured not entirely from understanding the jokes, but rather more from the fact that everyone around her was laughing. Even Robin gave a few hearty chuckles here and there. Naturally the only one in the entire room yet to laugh or even crack a smile was Raven. Despite the best efforts of all the performers she simply sat stone faced, drinking her ice water.

She was every comedian's ultimate challenge. If you could make her laugh you were something special.

The murmur of the crowd lessened and then disappeared entirely as the host for the evening once again took the stage. He was a short, husky man of about 40 with a properly coifed hairdo, wearing a black lounging suit, the shirt of which was unbuttoned two buttons from the top and was without a tie. When he spoke his voice was deep and scratchy.

"Okay, our next performer is a young kid from right here in Jump City. He's got a lot of ambition and a lot of talent. Please give a warm welcome to Mr. G. M. Logan."

The host applauded and backed away as from stage left came the next performer. The Titans shared in the audiences applause as a young, skinny, blonde haired man wearing a green collared shirt and blue jeans make his way to the microphone. No more thought was given to him than anyone else they had seen that evening. However, that changed as soon as the young man spoke.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you," he said again.

His voice, small and raspy with an all too familiar squeak. They had heard it countless times before and could recognize it even though it came from a different looking owner. It was without a doubt Beast Boy.

Looking at the other Titans, Raven could see they all shared the same thought as her.

"Is that Beast Boy?" asked Robin, who had taken off his glasses to get a better look.

"I believe it is," said Starfire.

"Well I'll be. That little sneak," said Cyborg suddenly coming to a conclusion. "He begged me months ago to make a holoring for him. He said it was so he could go to the movies without being bothered. But this must have been what he was thinking about the whole time."

At this revelation Robin felt himself slinking down in his chair. A large part of his reasoning for wanting Beast Boy to not participate in the show had been to save face with the city should his performance be disastrous. It seemed however that there was never a reason to worry. Beast Boy's identity was completely concealed.

Up on stage Beast Boy began his act.

"Hey, hello, how are you, hi there, how do you do, howdy, how are you doing, how's it hanging, what's going on, what's shaking, what's new, what do you think, what do you hear, what do you feel, what do you say, what do you know, que pasa, what's going down, what it is?"

He paused for a moment as a light chuckling spattered across the audience.

"I tell you we have a lot of ways to say hello, don't we? It's amazing. You know what my favorite one is though? How's your hammer hanging? I like that. Doesn't go too well with women. Unless of course you're dealing with a female carpenter. Then it's perfectly alright"

A warm bit of laughter sprang up from the crowd.

"Then there's one I never really cared for. "Are they keeping you busy?" As if someone has the right to come up and give me odd jobs."

More laughter, louder than before.

"We also have a lot of ways to say goodbye too. We have bye-bye, so long, see you later, take it easy, be cool, hang loose, stay in there. Just to shake things up every month I like to change the way I say goodbye. I used to say take it easy, but now I say farewell. Till we meet again. Peace be with you. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house."

Loud laughter.

"That's a strong one, isn't it? People remember you if you talk like that."

More loud laughter mixed with applause.

Amazement was predominantly what Raven felt, and it was easy to tell the rest of the team felt the same way. Fighting through loud belly laughs of their own, Cyborg and Robin were in awe at the sight of the men and women around them actually enjoying Beast Boy. Though early, it was also easy to tell that this was not the same tired shtick they had come to expect from their shape shifting compatriot. There were no bad puns or juvenile wordplay, but rather humorous observations and musings. The changeling was essentially giving his own unique perspective on everyday life.

"You ever talk about a movie with someone who read the book? They're always so condescending, like "Oh the book was so much better." I'm always like, "Oh really? You know what I liked about the movie? No reading. Only took two hours."

Despite herself, Raven couldn't resist cracking the slightest smile at this, remembering that she was the one who said that exact line to Beast Boy months back. Though the style may have been different this was still very much a Beast Boy performance."

"You ever read a book that changed your life? Me neither."

* * *

After roughly twenty minutes of laughter and applause Beast Boy concluded his act to a warm ovation. Waving his hands and bowing the changeling made his way offstage and the host once again took the mic. Cyborg stood and clapped louder than anyone, Starfire nearly flew out of her chair as she let out a raucous cheer. Robin gave a more than modest round of applause and even Raven couldn't resist the urge to lightly applaud the changeling.

Finally after a the last few acts had gone it was time to announce the winner. The votes were tallied and the judges had reached a decision. Once again the host took the stage, a clean white index card in his hand. He asked for one more round of applause for everyone involved in the night's precedings, and then announced the winner.

"And this years Laugh-a-holics club champion is..."

* * *

"There he is."

Following Cyborg's outstretched arm the Titans quickly spotted Beast Boy, still in his holoring disguise leaving through the back entrance to the comedy club. Immediately there was applause and cheering. Starfire, throwing caution to the wind, flew over to the changeling and trapped him in a rib cracking bear hug.

"Oh dearest friend," she cried. "You did a most wonderful job at telling the jokes."

Beast Boy smiled though with great difficulty. "Thanks Star," he wheezed.

"Oh man," exclaimed Cyborg as he approached. "B, I gotta tell ya. That was great. I mean I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in all my life. You got robbed, man. You're act was way funnier than anyone else's. You should have won."

Again Beast Boy smiled and said thank you. "But it's not about winning," he said. "Did you see all those people laughing in there? And all because of me. That's really why I wanted to do this."

Raven, noticing Robin had yet to say anything, gave the Boy Wonder a quick nudge with her shoulder. Clearing his throat he too approached the changeling.

"Good job," he said. "That was impressive."

After he paused, Raven again gave him a nudge, this time harder and with her powers.

"And uh, I.. kind of..owe you an apology."

Cyborg, his face growing solemn, took his place beside Robin as did Starfire.

"We all do, B."

"Apology?" said Beast Boy quizically. "Oh you mean for going behind my back and trying to get me to stay away from the show because you all hated my jokes and didn't want me to lose face in front of Jump City or get horribly embarrassed? It's cool; I forgive you."

The team was stunned. He knew. He had known all along what they were trying to do and what their intentions were. He knew. They were all ready with the same question but before any of them had a chance, Beast Boy spoke again.

"Listen, guys." he said. "You might think that I don't listen but I do. All those times where you guys groaned at my jokes or told me they weren't funny I was listening. I might have argued with you but I took what you said to heart. And you were right. My jokes weren't very funny. So, I started watching professional comedians. I saw what they did and figured out what they were doing different from me. I wasn't lying when I told you guys I'd been practicing."

For a moment everything was silent. Even the city itself seemed to have fallen into a hush.

"Beast Boy," said Robin finally, struggling to find the right words. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You never bothered to ask." Suddenly the smile returned to the changeling's face. "Besides I was kind of having fun watching you guys get all serious faced at something so stupid. Though I never thought you'd actually have me kidnapped. Which reminds me, how did you get my powers to stop working?"

Robin flushed with embarrassment as his shoulders slumped. "It might have been a little zap from borrowed tech from Ding Dong Daddy's power nullifier."

"Oh," said Beast Boy, slow and exagerated. "I see."

Starfire, after a moment, interjected herself in the conversation. "You were watching us?" she asked.

"Yup. Ever since I first made my announcement a few days ago. You gotta watch out for those green flies. You never know when they might be listening."

"Well," said Cyborg. "We're really sorry, B."

Waving his hand, Beast Boy swatted the matter aside. "Don't worry about it. Now why don't we all go for some late night pizza? I'm starving."

* * *

It was several hours later, after they had all returned to the tower when Raven heard a knocking at her door. Crossing the floor to her room, she approached the exit.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Beast Boy."

Opening the door, she found the changeling standing on the other side wearing a t-shirt and sleeping pants, a friendly smile on his face.

"Hey," he said.

"Hello."

A small silence filled the room before Raven firmly but politely asked if there was anything in particular that Beast Boy wanted. Flushing slightly and rubbing the back of his neck, the changeling looked down and chuckled. He then looked back up at Raven and said:

"Sorry. I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?" asked the empath, slightly confused.

"For..you know..helping me out and..not going along with Robin's plan and for..you know, being a friend."

Raven nodded.

"It's no problem," she said.

There was another small silence before Beast Boy spoke again.

"So," he continued. "Did you enjoy my show tonight?"

"Yes."

"Did you laugh."

"No. But I did come very close. It was refreshing to see that you're humor has evolved somewhat."

"Thanks. You know I had a tough time picking out the right material for the show. I wanted my act to be fun and peppy, so some of it I chose to cut."

"Really."

"Yeah. I mean I had a great joke about a panther eating licorice in his apartment at night when the power goes out, but I worried it was too dark."

At that Beast Boy paused as the audible thud that was his joke dropped to the floor before he clutched his sides and started laughing hysterically the way he had done countless times before.

"You get it? Panther? Licorice? Black? Too dark?" Again he let out a fierce belly laugh and nearly doubled over.

"And thus he regresses back to whence he came," said Raven, taking a step back into her room and leaving the changeling to his laughing fit.

It was after closing the door, as Raven was making her way across the floor to her bed that it hit her. She had not laughed once all night. But now as Beast Boy's last bad joke rolled through her head she suddenly found the corners of her mouth tickling. She felt her insides becoming light. Maybe it was the accumulation of every small laugh she ever held back, but at that moment she suddenly found herself laughing harder than she ever had in her entire lifetime. Throwing a hand over her mouth she struggled to hold it in, but found she could not. Dropping to her knees and clutching her sides, she laughed and laughed unable to stop herself even if she wanted to. Laughing and laughing until her insides ached and she was without breath.

After several minutes, finally the tickling in her belly subsided and she climbed to her feet. Taking deep breaths she collected herself. She sighed heavily as she realized there was no longer any denying it. To do so would be an injustice to both Beast Boy and herself. Beast Boy was funny. He told great jokes. And she loved him for it.

End

_A/N: Well that's it. As usual thanks to everyone thats favorited this story or left a review. These small gestures never go unappreciated. Just to let you know the content in Beast Boy's act is a combination of material from George Carlin's Playin With Your Head and Jim Gaffigan's Doing my Time. Anyway I hope you liked this story. I'll be back soon with something new. Cause if I don't write I die :) Until then, take care of yourselves. - Sir Alwick._


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